Alexander Clay was first lieutenant of the frigate HMS Agrius when, with his ship outmatched and his captain dead, he managed to squeeze victory from the battle and capture a French vessel at the climax of The Captain's Nephew.

Now, in A Sloop of War, Clay and his ship have limped into the bay in Barbados, where he is to join the British naval forces under Admiral Caldwell. His success earns him a promotion: command of the sloop Rush and a mission to interfere with shipping at French-held St. Lucia.

That leads to a few minor encounters -- and Clay's realization that his ship, reportedly swift, is bogged down with an overabundance of weed below the waterline. That leads to a tense chase with an enemy vessel bearing down on his tiny sloop with little chance of relief. Clay finds some interesting solutions, both to escape his pursuer and, later, to increase his speed and fulfill his blockade duties without benefit of a shipyard. Meanwhile, a trusted officer's career and life are placed in jeopardy as rumors of murder spread among his colleagues.

As in the previous novel, author Philip K. Allan provides readers with an interesting and likable protagonist in Clay, along with a host of supporting characters who keep the story moving along. A new addition to the story in this book is Able Sedgwick, the anglicized name of an escaped slave who finds sanctuary on Clay's ship. Not only does his story provide a nice undercurrent to the narrative -- revealing, through Sedgwick's predicament and the far-ranging attitudes of the people with whom he comes in contact, the gradually changing attitudes toward slavery -- but his novice standing among the crew gives Allan a good chance to explain certain aspects of navy life without lecturing the readers.

Of course, the drama builds as the novel draws to its conclusion. Rush is among the vessels ordered back to St. Lucia in an all-out assault, and her crew's role in a land-based siege is vital. And, when everything seems over, a new danger appears on the horizon....

A Sloop of War is just the second book in Allan's series, but I already feel like I know its protagonist well. With the circumstances of its conclusion, Allan has set up an interesting new direction for the characters in the next book, which I hope I have the opportunity to read soon!

[ visit Philip K. Allan's website ]